Guildford and Surrey, in general, is full of rich English heritage. This heritage is sustained through the county’s architecture.
Whether you’re looking at Guildford’s iconic cobbled high street or the aged Abbots hospital you’d be pressed to disagree. However, it isn’t just the landmarks that maintain the thoroughly English heritage; it’s every building in the town, every house, every shop, every office contributes in its own way to Surrey’s identity.
Part of what makes the architecture so iconic is the windows; the portholes we stare through every day represent their own history and identity.
During the 17th century a new method of making windows had risen to popularity. The sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or “sashes”, that hold the panes of glass within a frame. This new method enabled houses to be built with large windows that could keep in the heat and also be opened with ease – this was revolutionary at the time. When Guildford was in its heyday during Victorian times the town expanded quickly, meaning new houses had to be built, many of which encompassed the sash window.
The slim sight-lines that cover the window have created the timeless image of an old Victorian English home that we can all conjure up in our minds. With their traditional thick wood frames the sash window provides timeless beauty to a home, whether it be for a country house or a terraced home in the city, it is emphatically part of English heritage.
As a town full of heritage, sash windows are still prominent in and around Guildford today. Many property owners opt not to upgrade their windows to a new modern style which can often detract from a property’s aesthetic appeal, with a potentially detrimental effect on its value.
When considering what to do with the windows of your period home, consider that even though sash windows can be 100s of years old, there are options available to upgrade them and ensure they keep the heat in as well as any modern alternative, whilst still retaining all of the aesthetic benefits of an original feature.
One of the defining features of traditional sash windows is the thickness of the glazing bars. however, these can often make your windows seem unnecessarily thick, even for new double glazed windows, which makes them harder to maintain. To overcome this, at yoursashwindows.com our specialist joiners can accommodate and create slimmer bars for both new and restored, single glazed and double glazed windows.
If you live in the Guildford area and you have any problems or plans for your windows, then a sympathetic restoration or replacement replica of your original sash windows will undoubtedly be one of the best options available to you; and if this is the case, then yoursashwindows.com can provide you with all you need. We’d be happy to supply you with a free survey of your property and answer any questions you may have. Please contact us on 0208 123 3604 or email enquiry@yoursashwindows.com.